


Day Two Hundred Seventy-Nine || Community

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [279]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 13:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20949188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Community...does he even know what that means, anymore? Maybe...someone unexpected can help him remember.





	Day Two Hundred Seventy-Nine || Community

It’s been quite some time since Sasuke’s felt any sense of community. The last he can truly remember was when his clan was still alive. Even if they had been a bit...ostracized, despite his lack of knowing, he at least had felt like he belonged among them. As both an Uchiha, and a son of the clan head, Sasuke was recognized and treated well. Their clan was close-knit, and though he’d often been easily jealous of Shisui, and his father had been standoffish, Sasuke was rarely left feeling a want for attention.

And then...well, that had been taken from him over the course of a single night.

From then on, Konoha had felt like a barren, lonely place. His classmates all looked to him with with a mixture of superstitious fear, and a kind of pity...which he never wanted. Suddenly he wasn’t just a person...he was a spectacle. The famed last Uchiha...besides his murderous brother.

...a commodity. 

His Academy years were spent in a painful loneliness. Of course, it was, in part, orchestrated himself. He didn’t need anyone, didn’t want anyone. He had one goal...one purpose. Anything else was merely a distraction. A waste of time. He shunned the others as they shunned him. The boys all thought he was trying too hard, a stick in the mud. And the girls - most, at any rate - thought he was alluring with his darkened mood and want for solitude.

And all that did was annoy him further.

There was so little left in Konoha to consider worthwhile. His goal now stood at the horizon, far beyond the village’s walls. His only vision was that of Itachi slain, vengeance assured for his clan.

And when Konoha didn’t give him what he needed...he left, no longer tied to the place of his birth. Without his family...it was no longer home. No...he carried home within his heart: all those he’d lost. And until they were given justice, that home was a turbulent, darkened place.

Oto no Kuni - Orochimaru’s various lairs - were hardly a place he’d call home. It was just a place to be. To live, to train, to await the day he would come into his own and defeat Itachi.

Then, and only then...could he rest.

Once Orochimaru was slain, he gathered his useful pieces, and headed out to find his brother. He could almost feel it: the peace at the end of the battle, once all was said and done. Once Itachi lay dead, cryptic words spoken...Sasuke collapsed.

_Is this...the end? Did I come so far just to fall? But maybe...it’s better this way. I can see them all again...I won’t have to know life without them any longer. Maybe…_

...but that was not to be. It would be many more months of torment, lies, manipulation, and struggle before Sasuke could ever begin to find peace. Again and again his plans were foiled, forced to change...and then...he ended up right back where he started.

Konoha.

It was...odd. The village looked completely different. But then again, he’d heard of the destruction wrought by Pein of the Akatsuki. Though he’d not seen it for himself, the aftermath - the scale of the change - was telling enough.

...and the village itself wasn’t all that had changed.

Even after the war - even after stopping the entirety of humanity from being turned into mindless plant monstrosities - Sasuke was looked upon with mistrust, hate, and disdain. In a way, he couldn’t blame them. He’d gone to whatever lengths necessary to do what he thought was right. But nor could he bring himself to regret any part of it. It all led him to this moment.

...but what was left? His brother was dead, his clan still unavenged as Konoha was left to continue on untried for genocide. He still wanted to fix things...but how…?

His answer, as it turned out...was risen from the dead.

With Itachi’s return, they had all the evidence they needed. Speaking to the other clan members in his year, he managed to create a truce: for the clans to come together, to confront the council of Hiruzen’s era...and bring light to the massacre at last.

Among their first allies in the confrontation were the Hyūga, Hinata agreeing to help talk to the other clans and keep them calm. Revealing a village-ordered massacre, after all, was sure to be a...tender subject. And afterward, it was they who approached with an official alliance. After all, the Uchiha were so few...to have numbers behind them would surely only benefit them...right?

Though his pride was stung for it, Sasuke eventually agreed...if, for nothing else, his brother’s sake. Itachi was still recovering from his revival...and they had other weaknesses to account for. As powerful as they both were...they were only two.

...until Shisui revealed his falsified suicide, but...that was an entire other tale.

To Sasuke...it was a gift he’d never expected. A living brother, cousin...and his brother’s children. Four Uchiha beyond himself he hardly dared to pray for. Even if only a fraction...his community was back.

...and it was expanding.

Reparations with those of his year were...slow. But among the first to truly welcome him back had been Hinata. And the more he ended up spending time with her - through clan business, mutual acquaintances, and just...bumping into her - the more Sasuke realized...he actually enjoyed her company. Unlike most other young women he knew, she didn’t feel the need to fill every moment with noise or words. She, like him, seemed to value peace and quiet. She, like him, was content to linger in the background, more a listener than a speaker. They could, when left mostly to themselves, just sit in a companionable silence and feel perfectly content.

...she was, in all reality, his first friend coming back to Konoha. She helped him feel like he...belonged. His sense of community had been broken long ago, but...she, alongside his family, helped it begin to heal.

“...thank you.”

Startling from what was certainly a daydream, Hinata looks up to him, blinking. “...w...what?” She glances around, a bit confused. The pair are walking from a gathering of their peers: a night out for barbeque that only just ended. Living in the same general direction, they’ve just...ended up on the same path. “...um...what for, Sasuke-kun?”

For a moment, he doesn’t answer, eyes trained ahead. But by now, she’s grown accustomed to his thoughtful silences before speaking. “...for...stuff like this.”

“Like...this?”

“Just...normal things.”

Considering him for a moment, Hinata can’t help a small wilt of her brows. “I’m...not sure I know what you mean…”

“How you treat me. Like...a regular person. Everyone else is still...not. I get it - I know why. But...I appreciate what you do. For me. So...thanks.”

Understanding then brightens her expression. “...oh! Well...you’re certainly welcome, Sasuke-kun. I know, um...I know we didn’t really k-know each other before you...left. But...I’d like to think we’ve become...really good friends since you came back!” She gives a beaming smile. “...I guess I’m sorry we didn’t really...have a chance to do this...before.”

“...not sure it would have worked before,” he replies quietly.

“...maybe you’re right. But...I appreciate it now.”

“...yeah? Me too. It’s...helped me settle back in. Slowly, but...I’m getting there. There’s still a lot to...adjust to.”

“Oh, I’m sure...but...I’m glad I can help.” A soft pink graces her cheeks. “...that makes me very...h-happy to hear that. I think...you’re a very good person, Sasuke-kun. You, um...you made some mistakes. But you were trying to reach a good goal, I think.”

“...good person, huh…”

“Mhm. And...it’s good to have you back. I know it can’t be easy to just...f-fall back into a community like that. But I’m glad you’re trying. And...I’m glad I’m making that a little e-easier.”

Sasuke gives her a glance. “...you are.”

Another smile, and with a turn they reach the street of her clan’s gate. “...well, I guess I’ll see you...later.”

“Yeah...have a good night.”

“You too, Sasuke-kun.” Waving, she turns into her family’s land, soon disappearing from view.

For a long moment, he considers her words, lingering just outside. Friends, huh? Good friends...that should make him happy. And yet...there’s an underlying...frustration.

Unable to puzzle it out, he instead heaves a small sigh...and keeps on his way back home.

**Author's Note:**

> Guh, this is...very late, and honestly not what I wanted, but I had a VERY long day, so I only barely managed to eek this out, I'm sorry @~@ I really tried, but I fear a tired brain is a little lackluster. Tomorrow, I hope, I won't be so rushed. Not everything you do for a daily challenge, sadly, can be a winner lol
> 
> ANYWAY! This is, actually, a prompt I like. Sasuke's sense of community is a complicated, many-times-broken thing. And in ALAS, rebuilding that for what will HOPEFULLY the last time isn't easy. But Hinata is one of the few who help make that process a bit less painful n_n
> 
> But on that note, I REALLY need to get to bed, aha~ Thanks for reading!


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